Hey, It's That Guy!

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Hey, I've seen that guy with the striped shirt somewhere before...

"Hi! I'm Troy McClure. You Might Remember Me From such films as The Boatjacking of Supership 79 and Hydro, the Man With the Hydraulic Arms." —Troy McClure, The Simpsons

There is a certain class of actor who you may rarely notice but often see. They appear in various works, filling their roles faithfully but when you notice them individually, you remember seeing them before but never where it was and you can never say their name but are forced to just exclaim "Hey, It's That Guy!"

For instance, if a middle-aged character actor gets a good rep—there is nothing like personal connections in a crowded, cut-throat business like the Hollywood acting pool—he can appear in numerous movies and TV shows each year. Ronny Cox is a good example among actors always available as white male authority figures, Lou Gossett as black male establishment types of any social class, Mako in any middle-aged male role requiring an Asian (er... while he lived, anyway), and Tim Curry as any evil, bearded bloke who dies in the end.

They never get the lead but that's often best for them. That means that nobody ever blames them if a movie bombs and they never become unaffordable. It means that they'll never grab the headlines or grab your attention but they'll grab the paycheck at the end of the day.

Another excellent category for this trope is dwarfs: there are only so many good, trained adult actors just over three feet tall and even fewer with the connections to constantly get speaking parts. Most long time movie and television fans will recognize a half-dozen familiar faces on small bodies: Billy Barty, who played these roles from the 1930s to the 1990s (180 entries just in the IMDB, beginning at age five!), Billy Curtis (High Plains Drifter), Warwick Davis (Willow, the Leprechaun and Harry Potter films, and Prince Caspian), Peter Dinklage (also Prince Caspian, Elf, Game of Thrones) the great Michael Dunn (Ship of Fools and The Wild Wild West), and Danny Woodburn (Mickey Abbott on Seinfeld, Big Figure in the Watchmen movie).

If you're watching Law & Order or other Clueless Mystery, it might result in Narrowed It Down to the Guy I Recognize.

Voice actors in Animated Shows, as well as live action voice dubs for foreign-language shows, have the similar syndrome Hey, It's That Voice!.

American stunt performers, particularly ones that belong to minority groups, tend to keep popping up in a variety of different TV shows and movies. James Lew, Al Leong and Jeff Imada are just three examples that spring quickly to mind. They often play Evil Minions but may sometimes be upgraded to The Dragon or even the Big Bad.

Young Canadian actors, particularly if they're Toronto-based, have this happen so much it gets its own trope, because teens more than any other group show that there are Only So Many Canadian Actors.

If you can't quite remember which show the actor was in, it can result in much time spent on IMDB, trying to narrow down where else the viewer has seen that actor. If you get stuck, try You Know That Guy—someone might help you.

Compare Actor Allusion, You Look Familiar, You Might Remember Me From, Hey, It's That Voice! and Plays Great Ethnics. Inverse of Retroactive Recognition. Parent trope of What the Hell, Casting Agency?. When you just can't shake off the image of the older roles, it's Role Association.

Hey It's That Guy!, now in convenient book form

Examples of Hey, It's That Guy! include:

• Neil Flynn. Most famous for his appearance as the janitor in Scrubs. he also appears as:
  • A government agent in Indiana Jones.
  • Lindsey Lohan's father in Mean Girls.
  • The father in The Middle
  • A transit cop in The Fugitive

• Jesse Heiman. He has played as an extra in more than 50 films and television shows. His credits include The Social Network, Arrested Development, Old School, Glee, Catch Me If You Can and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Some examples of his work are here.

• Cracked.com once made a list with 20 of those actors, and listed which actors they might be a Poor Man's Substitute for. The top entry was James Cromwell (whose best known role is the farmer in Babe, or, if you're a Trekkie, the man who invented warp drive).
  • The article includes what may be the perfect description of what makes an actor That Guy: "[He] can play any role well enough to get the job done, but just poorly enough to avoid becoming famous."

• J.T. Walsh May have been the ultimate "Hey It's That Guy" since the 1980s. So much so that Fametracker called its weekly version of You Know That Guy the "J.T. Walsh Memorial Hey It's That Guy" after he died in 1998. His roles included
  • Ed Smythe in Hannah and her Sisters
  • Sgt. Major Dickerson in Good Morning, Vietnam
  • Bob Woodward in Wired, the John Belushi biopic, possibly out-Woodwarding both Robert Redford and Will Ferrell in the process
  • State Trooper Sherman Douglas in Misery
  • Jack Ruhle in Iron Maze
  • Alderman Swayzak in Backdraft
  • Lt. Colonel Markinson in A Few Good Men
  • Frank Griffith in The Last Seduction
  • Jason McThune in The Client
  • The unnamed White House Chief of Staff in a One-Scene Wonder in Outbreak
  • John Ehrlichman in Nixon
  • Charles Bushman in Sling Blade
  • Terence Niebaum in The Negotiator
  • Big Bob in Pleasantville
  • Red Barr in Breakdown.

• The ultimate Asian "That Guy" surely has to be Al Leong. If you see an Asian-looking Mook with a bald head, long hair, and long moustaches anywhere in a Hollywood action film, it was Al. Not many guys in Hollywood can attest to a screen resume as diverse as stealing chocolates in Die Hard, playing Genghis freakin' Khan in Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure, and torturing Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. He's that invisible they hired him again as a nameless mook in Lethal Weapon 4 and nobody noticed.
  • James Hong as well. If you've seen an American production with more than two Chinese characters, you've seen him (usually as some kind of authority figure, often, though not always, a villainous one).
  • Another honorable mention: Clyde Kusatsu. Frequently cast as a doctor or judge but can show up just about anywhere. Holds the distinction of having played bit parts on both versions of Hawaii Five-O.

• Many people remember Mark Rolston as either the guy who gets a faceful of acid in Aliens or the rapist in The Shawshank Redemption. He has spent most of his career playing Mooks in assorted TV series and B movies.

• Ben Stein is well-known for his drab monotone voice, and has used it to good effect portraying various boring teachers and authority figures on both live-action and animated shows, including
  • The Fairly OddParents where the pixie was drawn to match him
  • Both live action film and animated series of The Mask
  • Duckman
  • Married... with Children
  • Animaniacs
  • the film adaptation of Richie Rich starring Macaulay Culkin
  • The Wonder Years
  • Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
  • See also Hey, It's That Voice!. As a sidenote, Stein is perhaps the only person who could get away with appearing on a comedy sitcom in a chicken suit and still be able to publish serious articles on investment and politics.

• Vincent Schiavelli aka The Man with the Sad Eyes or The Guy With A Droopy Face (a result of Marfan syndrome), Receding Hairline Yet Long Hair and Sometimes A Moustache. This sad face gave him a number of roles as distressed characters, the mentally not-all-there but his way of talking and mad scientist hair cut also got him the exact opposite roles of mentorly elder figure.
  • The Ghost on the subway, in Ghost
  • The Pastor, in Sabrina the Teenage Witch
  • Uncle Enyos, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  • Cab Driver, American Virgin
  • Roman Moronie's Building Planner, Johnny Dangerously
  • Salieri's Valet, Amadeus
  • Mr. Vargas, Fast Times at Ridgemont High
  • Fredrickson, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
  • A Doctor Who -like character in Barney Miller.
  • He was even a Bond bad guy in Tomorrow Never Dies!
  • John O'Connor in Buckaroo Banzai
  • A seemingly Eastern European magician in Lord of Illusions

• Kevin Durand- Normally villainous and always The Big Guy and yet his very distinct rounded cheekbones make him look rather like an oversized baby. His very square white teeth have aided in his mastery of the evil self-satisfied Psychotic Smirk that just makes you want to punch him but stop yourself because you think he will eat you.
  • The Complete Monster Keamy from Lost
  • Mean but dumb Blob from X Men Origins: Wolverine
  • Zipacna (the Goa'uld who tried to sabotage the Tollan while also using their legal system to argue for enforced brain slavery while smirking that damn smirk at SG-1) in Stargate SG-1.
  • One of the casino thugs in Walking Tall.
  • The large and devout inmate Carlos in The Butterfly Effect.
  • And in a large departure of character from the other roles, one of his earliers: Joshua the Gentle Giant Beast Man from Dark Angel.
  • The chainsaw-wielding Tremor brother in Smokin Aces.
  • Little John in Robin Hood (2010). A good guy but not quite likable right from the beginning.
  • The archangel Gabriel in Legion—not really a hardcore villain so much as a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds, as especially seen in his delightfully tragic fight scenes with his brother Michael (Paul Bettany).

• John C. McGinley. Probably more nominatively recognizable now due to his long leading exposure in Scrubs, outside of his definitively angry Dr. Cox, the curly haired McGinley spent his time as a number of creepy and/or smarmy characters with little audience sympathy. If you've seen a famous Oliver Stone movie, you've probably seen him.
  • Sgt. "Nose Up Tom Berenger's Ass" O'Neill in Platoon
  • Marvin (that friend of Sheen's from work who is kind of funny but is also annoying) in Wall Street. The thick framed glasses can delay the Retroactive Recognition.
  • Random guy pushing wheel chair in Born On the Fourth of July (presumably he failed to respond to Stone's Christmas card that year)
  • The slimey Corrupt Corporate Executive from Highlander II the Quickening.
  • The over official and overbearing Agent Ben Harp ("young dum and full of cum") from Point Break.
  • The henchman from On Deadly Ground who keeps Tempting Fate by saying things like "He'd have to be out of his fucking mind to try to get into this place now".
  • The Marine Captain from The Rock
  • The completely nuts corporate assassin who kills with no qualms because he fears the lack of fear of death in the 2000 adaptation of the novel Sole Survivor.
  • Jack Rose from Any Given Sunday.
  • Another bad guy henchman (and yes also an annoying dweeb) in Get Carter (2000).
  • In Se7en he plays California, the captain of the SWAT team that discovers the sloth victim.
  • He plays against type in Identity as the meeky George York.
  • He's one of the Bobs in Office Space.
  • The main villain in Nothing to Lose.
  • Edgler Vess in the TV adaptation of Dean Koontz's novel Intensity.

• Robert Loggia- kinda of looks like George C. Scott when his hair is dyed, otherwise old Italian American men.
  • The General (Grey) in Independence Day.
  • Macmillan the toy store owner in Big
  • Frank Lopez in Scarface.
  • Sam Ransom in Jagged Edge.
  • Stefano (owner of the caricature decorated restaurant) in Frasier.
  • Grampa Victor in Malcolm in the Middle
  • Feech La Manna in The Sopranos.
  • Frightening/hilarious but mostly frightening crime boss Dick Laurent in Lost Highway.

• Tony Shalhoub- is Lebanese but has probably been used for everything except Chinese. A good actor for The Everyman and the slightly quirky. Not actually knowing his name probably decreased a lot after his started on Monk.
  • Ben Geisler in Barton Fink.
  • The neurotic Antonio Scarpacci in Wings
  • The head regenerating pawn shop owner, Jeebs in Men in Black
  • German, the guy who introduced Vincent and Jerome in Gattaca
  • Russian Misha Vilyenkov in Paulie (if you need a man who can convincingly be enraptured by a parrot telling stories, you need Tony Shaloub)
  • Frank Haddad (lebanese) in The Siege
  • Minion in Spy Kids (the Hand Headed Tribe of New Zealand)
  • He is also the Deadly Shadow Guy from The X-Files episode 'Soft Light'
  • Fred Kwang in Galaxy Quest. Technically saying everything except Chinese wasn't true but here it was to make a point.
  • Unnamed sailor in a bar singing Macho Man with Debbie Jellinsky-Addams in Addams Family Values.

• Stephen Tobolowsky: Ned! Bill Murray punched him in Groundhog Day and all the characters surrounding his in other movies have wanted to too. This bulbous nosed actor has been:
  • Professor at Greendale in Community.
  • The "fabulous" but court order restrained Sandy Ryerson from Glee.
  • The "fabulous" Captain of the Guard in Spaceballs.
  • Bob Bishop in Heroes.
  • Hugo Jarry in Deadwood.
  • The memory deficient Sammy in Memento.
  • Dr. Lamott in Basic Instinct.
  • Werner Brandes in Sneakers
  • A KKK spokesperson in Mississippi Burning - a rare truly contemptible character for him, as opposed to just punchable.

• Wallace Shawn has such a discernible high pitched nasal voice that even his TV appearances feel like Hey, It's That Voice!. The voice of Rex from Toy Story has the face of Vizzini from The Princess Bride where the only thing worse than the erroneousness of how he said "inconceivable" was how he squeaked it out. However this voice also lends him to the more lovable small man role.
  • The rather sweet teacher Mr. Hall in Clueless.
  • Recurring character Engels on The Cosby Show.
  • The Canadian Prime Minister in Canadian Bacon. It's the Prime Minister of Canada, eh! That's aboot as friendly as it gets.
  • Grand Nagus Zek from Deep Space Nine.
  • Bob Parr's jerkass boss from The Incredibles.
  • Cyrus, Blair Waldorf's stepfather on Gossip Girl.
  • He was one of the two stars of My Dinner with Andre, where he basically plays himself.

• Chi McBride: A sharply dressed, sharp mouthed, black business man who acts as a realism/cynical counterpart to our hero. No Exceptions (except when he isn't). (He also had a leading role in Boston Public as the Principal).
  • Emerson from Pushing Daisies
  • Winston from Human Target
  • Edward Vogler from House. Yes he actually portrayed a character more cynical than House.
  • Lt. Bergin from I Robot
  • Cyrus from The Frighteners.

• John Glover. He is the reason we have the Magnificent Bastard trope. It was named for him. Not his character. Him, John Glover. Think about that.
  • Lionel Luthor, Magnificent Bastard extraordinaire, in Smallville
  • Lucifer in Brimstone
  • The technically good but certainly unheroic and magnificent at being so, CEO of Clamp Corporate Network, Daniel Clamp in Gremlins 2.
  • The above being a salesman at heart, see also the Magnavolt Salesman in Robocop2.
  • Sylar's dad Samson Gray in Heroes.
  • Voiced Rasputin in the Animaniacs episode Nothing but the Tooth.
  • Voiced The Riddler in The New Batman Adventures and Superman.

• Ronny Cox was actually first highly noticeable in Deliverance where he was the one character to hold to civilized morality and who represented the destruction of the concept of civilized moral man when exposed to true wilderness but in everything else he's just a dick. Often a dick in a suit. If not a dick, then definitely a suit, a Reasonable Authority Figure even.
  • Dick (they weren't even being subtle about it) Jones the head Corrupt Corporate Executive of RoboCop.
  • Vilos Cohaagen, the Big Bad from Total Recall.
  • The American President in the 1990 Captain America film.
  • Captain Jellico, the guy who took command of the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation and who managed to piss everyone off to the point Riker almost didn't do his job while still being right about nearly everything.
  • Treasonous Senator Kinsey in Stargate SG-1.
  • On the more reasonable authority figure side of things, he was the LA police captain in Beverly Hills Cop. This is a movie in which he gets us to buy into an LA cop telling a black man that he won't tolerate police brutality.
  • He was also the President Plot Device in Murder At 1600
  • He had a very brief non-speaking role as the CEO of the funding corporation in Deep Blue Sea.
  • Not a dick but the protagonist in The Beast Within.
  • A heartless hospital administrator in St. Elsewhere. The one who gets mooned by Donald Westphal.
  • Commander of the State National Guard in the movie Taps, where a bunch of students take over their military academy and hold it hostage. He might have to use force to get the students to give up their revolution, except for one problem: the ringleader (Timothy Hutton) is his son.
  • An irate older Jerkass alias the Tooth Fairy serial killer on Dexter.

• Mako. Very often called upon for side roles requiring a distinguished Asian guy, his voice was also built for narration. He maintained a steady career of appearances in guest roles on TV.
  • One of his earliest roles was in McHales Navy in which he actually played several characters.
  • He was The Wizard and narrator for the Conan the Barbarian film.
  • Kungo Tsarong in Seven Years In Tibet.
  • Demon sorcerer Aku in Samurai Jack.
  • A variety of characters in M*A*S*H, sometimes as a North Korean and sometimes as a South Korean.
  • Admiral Yamamoto in Pearl Harbor.
  • Shimazaki in Crying Freeman.
  • Admiral Shima in Medal of Honor: Rising Sun.
  • Po-Han in The Sand Pebbles.
  • Splinter in TMNT.
  • Uncle Iroh and several other voices in the animated Avatar: The Last Airbender
  • The Reciter in Pacific Overtures, by Stephen Sondheim.

• Udo Kier, AKA What would happen if Christopher Walken and Tim Curry moved to Germany and had a baby. His iceberg blue eyes may make you suspect he is a vampire. His cult cred ensures that he will be cast often, if only in a cameo role.
  • He was in fact Dracula in cult film Andy Warhol's Dracula
  • Ron Camp, pet shark owner, in Ace Ventura.
  • Ralfi the boss with female, possible transgendered, bodyguards in the film of Johnny Mnemonic.
  • The vampire lord Dragonetti in Blade
  • The head priest in End of Days
  • He played Albin Grau, artist, architect and occultist, and the producer and production designer for Nosferatu in Shadow of the Vampire.
  • He's also very close to Lars Von Tier and has appeared in several of his films such as Dogsville and Manderlay.
  • He was in the Werewolf Women of the SS trailer in Grindhouse.
  • He was also Yuri in the Command & Conquer series of games.
  • Professor Pericles, the creepy Lecter-esque talking animal mascot of the original Mystery Inc in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.
  • He was also the creepy doctor in Korn's music video for Make Me Bad (along with Brigitte Nielsen)
  • He was a creepy psychiatrist in Armageddon. "Just let it out." Bear cries
  • Dr Krieger in Uwe Boll's Far Cry.
  • Upper-class vampire Vincent in Casper van Dien vehicle Modern Vampires (released in some countries as Revenant).

• Alice Ghostley certainly counts, as resident Cloudcuckoolander in many TV shows of the 70s and 80s, most notably Bernice in Designing Women.

• Jane Lynch is now the sourest thing in the Glee candy box but before that she was providing the tall thin blonde factor as:
  • The deadpan child psychologist in Two and a Half Men.
  • Spencer Reid's mentally ill mother in Criminal Minds
  • Joyce Wischnia in The L Word
  • Gail the Television Reporter in Walk Hard.
  • Ellen the estate seller on one of the last episodes of Friends.
  • Potential Friend with Benefits, Boss Paula in The 40-Year-Old Virgin
  • The Realtor who terrifies Aunt Josephine on Series of Unfortunate Events
  • George Sr's jailhouse love interest and FBI informant in Arrested Development
  • Sam's mom in iCarly. (tall and thin?)
    • While YMMV parents aren't always the same height and build as their kids. She does a great Job as Pam Pucket due her ability to play raunchy females in some of her past roles, such as Paula, who is a near-expy for Pam. However, other than her hair color and behavior, Pam and Sam do not bear any striking resemblances. Besides maybe how they both look in tight jeans.
  • Dr. Richard Kimble's friend in "The Fugitive".
  • Christy Cummings, lesbian dog handler, eventual lover and business partner of Sherri Ann Cabot in Best in Show.
  • Constance Carmell, an aspiring actress who's chased the dream a little too long, on Party Down.
  • Gayle Sweeney, the head of the Sturdy Wings program in Role Models. You know what she had for breakfast? COCAINE.
  • Laurie Bohner, she of the questionable past in A Mighty Wind.
  • Sister of Julie Child in Julie and Julia.
  • Richie Campbell's gym teacher on The New Adventures of Old Christine.

• Holland Taylor. As she says of most of her characters: "I'm just cutting a swath of bitchiness through the world!"
  • The boss and eventually business owner on Bosom Buddies
  • Charlie's capricious mother in Two and a Half Men.
  • The Grandmother in Spy Kids
  • The other, eventually encouraging, law lecturer Stromwell in Legally Blonde.
  • The prim unapproving mother of George's love interest in the George of the Jungle film.
  • Peggy Peabody in The L Word.

• There are only a handful of stage actors who do musical theater in Hungary. If they're doing a musical that features a brooding, dark character, a young male lead, a slightly wacky sidekick guy (or an Ax Crazy), a stern and mature woman, and an innocent heroine, it's safe to say that they'll be played by Szilveszter Szabo, Attila Dolhai, Zoltan Bereckzy, Kata Janza and Dora Szinetar, respectively. Szilveszter Szabo is an interesting case, as he also has a way of inheriting roles created in German by the very-different-in-both-acting-and-vocals Uwe Kroger (Colloredo in Mozart!, Der Tod in Elisabeth, and [it's been suggested many times] Maxim de Winter in Rebecca).

• Tokusatsu casting is starting to become this way, with the increasing impression that the only other work that toku actors can get are in Live Action Adaptations of Anime, J-dramas or other tokusatsu shows. Kamen Rider Kabuto practically made "Spot the toku guest star" a part of the show.
  • Power Rangers has started becoming the same way since their own move to New Zealand. In a twist, they took what was a case of this in the original Super Sentai and turned it into a Mythology Gag. (Sentai's Bandora and Magiel were both played by the same actress, so Rangers had their counterparts Rita Repulsa and Mystic Mother be the same person).
  • This goes all the way back to The Seventies; Hiroshi Miyauchi had leading roles (either as the title character or as part of an ensemble) in Kamen Rider V 3, Himitsu Sentai Goranger, JAKQ Dengekitai, and Kaiketsu Zubat all in one decade. Then he returned to Toku in The Nineties, playing The Mentor in multiple Metal Heroes shows and Chouriki Sentai Ohranger, and in the Turn of the Millennium, reprised his role from JAKQ Dengekitai in Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai, and appeared in the Kamen Rider the First movies. Quite possibly the most prolific Toku actor of all time.
  • Used as a Running Gag in Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger, where Sixth Ranger Shurikenger would assume human identities to help the Rangers before the fight of the week. It was always easy to spot him, since his human identities were all former Toku stars, and before changing into Shurikenger he would perform their original transformation pose.

• The late R. Lee Ermey will always be the face of Drill Sergeant Nasty. He's probably most of the examples too, having been an actual USMC drill instructor, that include the Real Life section. If not a marine drill sergeant then he's a police officer, warden guard or just some major league asshole shouting in your face. If he isn't playing that role in the movie you're watching an actor who was was at least thinking of him.
  • Gunnery Sergeant Hartmann from the film Full Metal Jacket
  • His first role as a DI was The Boys in Company C.
  • He also played the ghost of a similar character in Peter Jackson's The Frighteners, and was also the voice actor for the commander of a troop of plastic soldiers in Toy Story.
  • He also did X-Men: The Last Stand as a voice of such a sergeant.
    • Not to mention a cameo in My Life as a Teenage Robot... as a Skyway Patrol drill sergeant.
  • The old sheriff Pike who set the pair up in Life.
  • The evil Sheriff Hoyt, part of the murderous family, with a fondness for garters, in the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
  • House's (Marine Colonel) father in House.
  • The Janitor's father in Scrubs
  • He was a presenter for the History Channel series Mail Call, where he would describe the history of military warfare, while being a Drill Sergeant Nasty.
  • A drill sergeant turned therapist in a Geico TV commercial, voicing the same in a series of radio commercials.
    • And in an ad for pistachios, where he berates a pistachio so vehemently that the shell cracks.
  • Sergeant Major Bougus, the Marine DI who whips the fledgling Marine Space Aviators of the 58th Squadron ("Wildcards") into shape in the pilot of Space: Above and Beyond.
  • The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. Marshall Brisco County Sr., infamous father of bounty hunter Brisco County Jr., whose death is the starting point of the show.
  • One of the helicopter pilots in the opening scene of Apocalypse Now.
  • A voiceover role as a prison warden in an episode of (of all things) SpongeBob SquarePants.

• Titus Welliver is another career "that guy". "That not very nice guy that scares me a little".
  • He's spent time in Jericho,
  • Terrorized the cast of Star Trek: Voyager,
  • Offered advice to a future king in Kings
  • Tried very hard to kill his brother in Lost - and that's when he wasn't turning into a terrifying cloud of black smoke.
  • Sold his soul to a government conspiracy in Prison Brek
  • He's an FBI agent tracking the robbers in The Town.
  • Menaced a small California town in Sons of Anarchy
  • Worked for the notorious-yet-honorable Al Swearengen in Deadwood
  • And, in a revelation that surprised no one based on his past history, turned out to be a Horseman of the Apocalypse in Supernatural, alongside his twin Lucifer (also played by Mark Pellegrino).
  • Also guest-starred on one of the more disturbing episodes of "Law and Order Special Victims Unit": he played a man who impregnated his own teenage daughter (with someone else's sperm, not his own) because "if there are no children, the family dies." He had previously taken in a boarder and tried to convince her to carry a baby for them, and when she refused, he murdered and dismembered her.
  • He appeared in an early episode of The X-Files as an eco-terrorist.
  • He was the rival states attorney Glenn Childs on The Good Wife

• Lennie James. Yet another career "that guy" with some sage, though street, savvy advice.
  • He was the taxi driver who lost his son in The Prisoner remake.
  • A taxi driver (again) 'over there' in Fringe.
  • Jericho trying to restore the United States to its former glory in Jericho.
  • Was a protective dad trying to build a life for his son in The Walking Dead
  • The streetwise, advise giving, pimp in Hung.
  • Fast-talking Sol in Snatch.
  • Terry Marsh in Lie to Me where he gets Dr. Lightman involved with gambling mobster-types

• Mark Sheppard is an Evil Brit character actor with that evil being served up in douchebag flavour, taking the roles of villains that tend to hit above a TV series' par for intellect and meanness (and possibly other qualities).
  • He was the recurring serial killer ghost in Medium
  • The Badger with a very fine hat in Firefly
  • The lawyer whose only friend was his cat, Romo Lampkin on Battlestar Galactica
  • The leader of three bank robbers in (the meaner, more held together one) in Burn Notice.
  • The central Asian separatist Ivan Erwich who lead another hostage situation in 24.
  • The obstructive FBI agent who doesn't believe in the dollhouse in Dollhouse.
  • The Ring Director (so effectively the Big Bad of season 3) of Chuck
  • The Bond forger in the first episode of White Collar (The other bond forger.)
  • The anti-Ford insurance investigator Jim Sterling in Leverage
  • The chief crossroads demon, Crowley, in Supernatural
  • The ex-FBI who, while not villainous, plays along as one for a time, and has less qualms with guns than the Doctor does, in Doctor Who.
  • The Regent Benedict Valda in Warehouse 13—not evil, but still a Jerkass.
  • A dubious fashion photographer in CSI.
  • A pyrokinetic butler/serial killer in the first season of The X-Files

• Robert Davi brings the atmosphere of a Latino James Bond villain, mostly because he's Italian and a Bond villain. The cold, dangerous type also plays into a certain kind of mentorish roles.
  • He was the villain in the Dalton-era Licence to Kill.
  • The singing thief Fratelli in The Goonies.
  • One of the two agents Johnson (the one who had been to Vietnam) in Die Hard.
  • On that occasional good guy note, he was the FBI profiler Malone on Profiler
  • Er... a harder character to make out but he was kind of a mentor figure also in Showgirls albeit one whose sagest words were "It must be weird, not having anybody cum on you."
  • Commander Acastus Kolya of the Genii on Stargate Atlantis.

• Michael Ironside almost always plays a badass of some sort who is usually either a villain or a tough authority figure. He also has to hold the record for the number of characters he's played who lose limbs. You might mistake him for Jack Nicholson at first glance. His roles include:
  • Darryl Revok in Scanners
  • Ham Tyler in V
  • Lt. Cmdr. Rick "Jester" Heatherly in Top Gun
  • Richter in Total Recall
  • Gen. Katana in Highlander II the Quickening
  • Dial in Free Willy
  • Col. Dugan in The Next Karate Kid
  • Lt. Col. Stone in Major Payne
  • Captain Oliver Hudson in SeaQuest DSV
  • Jean Rasczak in Starship Troopers
  • Bob Brown in The Perfect Storm
  • Miller in The Machinist
  • General Ashdown in Terminator Salvation
  • General Granger in Command & Conquer 3
  • Sam Fisher in the Splinter Cell series
  • General Sam Lane in Smallville.
    • This isn't the first time he's butted heads with Kal-El, as he played Darkseid on Justice League.
  • Norcross in The Alphabet Killer

• J. K. Simmons. He has played a wide variety of characters and he is considerably less typecast than many of the actors listed on this page. His roles include:
  • Vern Schillinger on Oz
  • J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man film series -- and now in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well.
  • Dr. Emil Skoda on Law & Order
  • Cave Johnson in Portal 2
  • Assistant Chief Will Pope on The Closer
  • BR in Thank You for Smoking
  • Mac MacGuff in Juno
  • The CIA Superior in Burn After Reading
  • Oswald Klaven in I Love You, Man
  • Bob in Up in the Air
  • President Ackerson in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
  • The voice of the Yellow M&M in commercials for M&Ms candies
  • Professor Nathaniel Burke in a series of "University of Farmers" commercials for the Farmers Insurance Group
  • Garth Pancake in the Coen Brothers' 2004 remake of The Lady Killers

• Ed Begley Jr., who frequently plays eccentric characters. He is also known for his environmental activism.
  • Dr. Victor Ehrlich on St. Elsewhere
  • John "Stumpy" Pepys in This Is Spinal Tap
  • Ben Gunn in Streets of Fire
  • Charles Leary in The Accidental Tourist
  • Bob Pattchet in She Devil
  • Alan Tyler in The Pagemaster
  • Ebner Frost in Santa with Muscles
  • Dr. Hank Hastings on 7th Heaven
  • Mark Schafer in Best in Show
  • Hiram Gunderson on Six Feet Under
  • Lars Olfen in A Mighty Wind
  • Stan Sitwell on Arrested Development
  • Sandy Lane in For Your Consideration
  • Cyrus O'Dell on Veronica Mars
  • Robert Anderson in Pineapple Express
  • John Celestine in Whatever Works
  • "Saint" Sarah's father in Hannah Montana
  • The mayor of the Martin twins' ancestral hometown in Sweden in The Suite Life on Deck.
  • Himself, in Big Time Rush

• Parker Posey should count as "Hey It's That Girl". In no particular order:
  • Blade: Trinity
  • The last few^[when?] Christopher Guest movies and probably those coming down the road.
  • Superman Returns
  • The Sweetest Thing
  • Josie and the Pussycats
  • Scream 3
  • Dazed and Confused
  • Coneheads
  • Every independent film in the 90's
  • Jack's scary manager in the department store on Will & Grace ("Love ya, thinking of being ya for Hallowe'en.")

• Lance Henriksen. If you need someone to play a gruff, monotone authority figure or villain, he's your guy. Though he usually plays supporting roles, he had a lead role on the television series Millennium that lasted for three years. His other roles include:
  • Murphy in Dog Day Afternoon
  • Robert in Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  • D.A. Burano in Prince of the City
  • Wally Schirra in The Right Stuff
  • Detective Hal Vukovich in The Terminator
  • Bishop in Aliens and Alien 3
    • And as a Continuity Nod, Charles Bishop Weyland in Alien vs. Predator
  • Jesse Hooker in Near Dark
  • Ed Harley in Pumpkinhead
  • The King in Super Mario Bros
  • Emil Fouchon in Hard Target
  • Buck in Color Of Night
  • Ace Hanlon The Quick and the Dead
  • Cole Wilson in Dead Man
  • John Milton in Scream 3
  • The voice of Admiral Hackett in the original Mass Effect. Also the voice of General Sheperd in Modern Warfare
  • Returned as Hackett in the Mass Effect 2 DLC, "Arrival".

• A Canadian example is George Buza, who since the 70's has been the northern industry's go-to actor when it needs a big scary bearded white guy.

• Another Canadian who's the "go to" Native actor is Graham Greene. His long list of appearances in film, television and stage include Kicking Bird in Dances With Wolves; Leonard in Northern Exposure; Joe Lambert in Die Hard with a Vengeance; Peter Yellowbear in Snow Dogs; Calvin Many Goats in Transamerica; Harry Clearwater in Twilight: New Moon, etc. He also played Lenny in the Stratford Festival's adaptation of Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men.

• Brian Thompson, the go-to-guy for big beefy dudes with really scary voices who love to ham it up. Often works under heavy makeup. Among his roles:
  • The alien bounty hunters from The X-Files
  • Shao Kahn from Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
  • About a thousand roles as aliens in the various incarnations of Star Trek, including two different Klingons
  • Cronus and War in Charmed
  • The Judge and vampire lieutenant Luke in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    • Played Eddie, leader of the Bruja in Kindred: The Embraced (a TV show based on White Wolf's Vampire: The Masquerade).
  • He and Bill Paxton were the first victims of The Terminator.

• Before his role as Ben Kenobi in the Star Wars trilogy, Alec Guinness was Herbert Pocket in the 1946 film of Great Expectations, Colonel Nicholson in 1957's The Bridge on the River Kwai, Prince Feisal in 1962's Lawrence of Arabia, General Yevgraf Zhivago in 1965's Doctor Zhivago, and Marley's Ghost in 1970's Scrooge.
  • An odd example, as some considered him to be the greatest actor of the 20th Century, but most of his significant work was done in theater.

• Matt Frewer is a great choice when you need someone whose face is suited for either a good guy or villain who happens to have sparkling intelligence yet still be quirky, slightly odd or Affably Evil. Notable roles include:
  • Max Headroom
    • He's not "that guy", he's Max Headroom!
  • Jim Taggart from Eureka
  • Pestilence from "Supernatural"
  • Ted Altman from Intelligence
  • Sherlock Holmes
  • Time-travelling thief Berlinghoff Rasmussen in Star Trek: The Next Generation
  • Matt Prager from Psi Factor
  • Jackal from Gargoyles
  • The Leader in The Hulk and Iron Man animated series
  • The insane Trashcan Man in The Stand
  • Sid the Squid, from the Batman: The Animated Series episode "The Man Who Killed Batman"
  • The evil Doctor Russell Tresh in the X-Factor TV movie.
    • If anyone is going to drill a hole in your brain, you'd want it to be Matt Frewer because he'd have great conversation while doing it.
  • The White Knight in Sci Fi's Alice.

Hatter: Okay, he's mad as a box of frogs.

• • He's also the voice of Panic, of Pain and Panic (along with Bobcat Goldthwait) in Disney's Hercules.
  • Frank in the Dawn of the Dead remake
  • Moloch in Watchmen
  • The Szalinskis' ridiculous neighbor, Russell Thompson, from Honey I Shrunk the Kids.

• Alexandra Holden will probably look familiar for a certain generation too young to have gotten into John Hughes movies.
  • Last year's winner in Drop Dead Gorgeous, now dying of anorexia (a lot of make-up was used).
  • Fern, the girl forced on the cheerleaders by her father, for giving them their weapons, in Sugar and Spice.
  • One of Rachel McAdams' friends in The Hot Chick.
  • Ross' college-aged girlfriend Elizabeth in season six of Friends.

• Tracey Walter has been turning in quirky and/or shifty character roles in film and TV for forty years.
  • The Joker's all-too-loyal henchman Bob in Tim Burton's Batman
  • Cookie in City Slickers
  • Miller in Repo Man
  • The bumbling thief Malak in Conan The Destroyer
  • Lamar in The Silence of the Lambs
  • The Puppet King in Teen Titans
  • Mophir in Justice League
  • Sheriff Walter Chechekevitch in Reno 911!
  • A whole bunch more.

• Everyone knows Malcolm McDowell from his role in A Clockwork Orange but today's viewers might instead recognize him from his large and diverse roles in film and TV. He was Linderman in Heroes, the voice of Phineas and Ferb‍'‍s grandfather on their dad's side, the bad guy from the I Spy movie, the principal in Easy A, the President of the European Union in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 and the voice of President Evil in Fallout 3... The list goes on.

• Tim Russ seems to have had little trouble finding work after Star Trek: Voyager ended, making frequent appearances on iCarly as Principal Ted Franklin, and appearing in the Disney Channel original series Hannah Montana and Good Luck Charlie, both times as a doctor.

• Sid Haig is great when you need somebody who's just plain scary-looking. He showed up in a lot of 1970s exploitation films:
  • Ralph in Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told
  • Harry in The Big Doll House
  • One of the Slumber Brothers in Diamonds Are Forever
  • Omar in Coffy
  • Hays in Foxy Brown
  • The Judge in Jackie Brown
  • Captain Spaulding in House of 1000 Corpses and The Devils Rejects
  • He also appeared at least once on the original Mission Impossible series.

• Margo Martindale is usually the go-to person when a movie needs a motherly type or older woman character.
  • Dewey's mother in Walk Hard
  • The person who helped run Scott Glenn's horse stable in Secretariat
  • The American tourist in Paris je t'aime
  • Melanie Lynskey's lawyer in Win Win
  • A rival attorney in the pilot of Harry's Law

• Clifton Collins Jr. (also credited as Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez) is often considered when a movie needs a Hispanic character, a villain or a timid but likeable supporting role.
  • Tack in The Stoned Age
  • Niño, the youngest prisoner in Fortress
  • The main villain in 187
  • Perry Smith in Capote
  • The one-armed model enthusiast who runs the cleaning supply store in Sunshine Cleaning
  • Step in Extract
  • Romeo in The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
  • Tobey Maguire's superior officer in Brothers
  • One-half of the Vegan Police in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

• Željko Ivanek is a Slovenian-American actor and graduate of Yale who’s usually the best thing in whatever he’s in. He initially started off typecast as a nice guy, and asked his agent to get him more villainous roles. The agent did so. Aside from being on Shark, Bones, The Mentalist and Law & Order, he can be seen as:
  • Ed Danvers in Homicide: Life on the Street.
  • Roland Fuller on a particularly memorable episode of The X-Files.
  • Governor James Devlin
  • Dr Arnold Shaw the pet psychiatrist in Frasier.
  • Dr Cordell Doemling, Gary Oldman’s long-suffering physician, in Hannibal.
  • An upset patient taking people hostage in House.
  • Andre Drazen, part of a vengeful Big Bad Duumvirate in 24.
  • John Doe, a killer who shakes up the formula in Cold Case.
  • Ray Fiske, a lawyer in Damages.
  • John Dickenson in John Adams.
  • Emile Danko in the fourth volume of Heroes.
  • The Magister in True Blood.
  • JJ Percy Walker in Big Love.
  • Blake Sterling in short-lived NBC series The Event.
  • Edmund Burke in Lost.
  • A Canadian Guy who has trouble with Colin Farrell in the movie In Bruges.

• A Progressive Insurance Commercial does a literal Shout-Out to this trope in a "Flo The Progressive Girl" commercial. Flo and a customer break into an "80s Montage", and in the middle of it, Booger from 'Revenge of the Nerds appears, and the music actually sings, "Hey, it's that guy!"

• Comedian Kevin Hart has literally made an acting career out of being a One-Scene Wonder. His roles incluude C.J. in two different Scary Movie movies, Smart Tech customer in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and roles in various Seltzer and Friedberg movies.

• Emmanuelle Vaugier. Appeared in the Saw movies, Charmed, Smallville, One Tree Hill, Monk and others. Pretty but apparently not memorable.

• Patrick Warburton has the perfect voice for lunkheaded, huge-chested animated characters:
  • Kronk from The Emperor's New Groove
  • Mr. Barkin, a teacher in Kim Possible
  • Lok from Tak and the Power of Juju
  • The cop in Chicken Little
  • Ken in Bee Movie
  • David Puddy and The Tick were lunkheaded, huge-chested live-action characters.
  • Joe Swanson, Handi-capible paraplegic police officer on Family Guy.

• Need a loud but good-hearted (Jewish, Greek or Italian) mother-type? Lainie Kazan is the one to go to.

• Bill Hader could be considered another example. Though a cast member of Saturday Night Live he also makes numerous cameos or minor roles in comedy movies such as
  • The editor in Knocked Up
  • Officer Slater in Superbad
  • Les Grossman's assistant in Tropic Thunder
  • Peter's brother Brian in Forgetting Sarah Marshall
  • The park owner in Adventureland
  • A soldier testing marijuana in Pineapple Express
  • One of the two stupid agents following Jason Bateman around in Paul.

• Mark Alaimo, best known for portraying Dukat on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also embodies this trope. He has made a (mostly brief) appearance in several (TV-)Movies and in nearly every Action-Show there was on TV in the 80s, mostly as a villain (what else could a guy with a face like Alaimo's play on TV?), such as
  • A guy with in an orange diving suit in The Six Million Dollar Man
  • Part of a group of assassins in The A-Team
  • A prison inmate in Starsky and Hutch
  • A villain in Knight Rider
  • A police academy trainer in 21 Jump Street
  • A trucker in The Naked Gun
  • Captain of the guards in the Martian spaceport in Total Recall

• Armand Assante is Hollywood's "foreign" guy with over 100 credits in film and TV, mostly playing villains or the Magnificent Bastard. Of these, he's played South American dictators at least a dozen times. Some of his most famous roles:
  • Rico in Judge Dredd
  • Odysseus in the TV movie version of The Odyssey
  • Dominic Cattano in American Gangster
  • Premier Allejandro Goya in Chuck
  • La Grenouille in NCIS
  • Richard Elliot in ER
  • Lt. Al Garcia in Striptease
  • Ned Ravine in Fatal Instinct

• Eric Balfour has been from programs as varied as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Six Feet Under, 24 and even a Canadian skin flick called 12 Songs.

• You plan on casting a villain in a crime thriller? Never fear, Peter Greene is here!

• Megan Hilty, one of the more famous actresses to play Glinda in Wicked
  • Will be voicing the China Doll Princess in the upcoming^[when?] Dorothy of Oz.
  • One of the hopefuls to play Marilyn Monroe on Smash.

• Thomas Lennon is best known for his role in Reno 911! but is also a bit actor in several comedies such
  • Ned Gold in 17 Again
  • Karl, a German tennis player in Balls of Fury
  • Doug in I Love You, Man
  • A customer at Nick's store in Hot Tub Time Machine
  • Carl a state employee in Bad Teacher
  • Todd, Harold's friend in A Very Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle 3D Christmas

• Just during the fall season of 2011 David Neher has been on:
  • The Pilot episode of New Girl
  • Community as Todd ("No offense")
  • Modern Family as a fake ID dealer
  • How I Met Your Mother wearing a goatee sitting next to Lily and Marshall at a concert. He makes out with her in a fantasy sequence

• Elya Baskin is a repulsive but nice Eastern-Russian-styled That Guy :
  • Severinus in The Name of the Rose
  • A Yuri in MacGyver
  • Another Yuri in Walker, Texas Ranger
  • And yet another Yuri, cabbie slash paparazzo in cop show True Blue
  • The Not-So-Bad Russian Terrorist Pilot in Air Force One
  • Mr. Ditkovitch in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3
  • Dimitri in Transformers: Dark of the Moon

• Michael Wincott is that tough bad guy :
  • Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
  • A vet in Born On the Fourth of July
  • Manager Paul Rothschild in The Doors
  • Moxica in 1492:Conquest Of Paradise
  • A gunslinger in Dead Man
  • Elgyn in Alien Resurrection
  • Incestuous gang boss Top Dollar in The Crow

• Jim Carter is that guy with the nose and the gloomy expression. He's one of those British actors who's always in something—he once said in an interview that he's never had a job in his life except acting—but never in the big splashy roles. The roles he has had include:
  • Mr Carson the butler in Downton Abbey
  • Captain Brown in Cranford
  • John Faa in The Golden Compass
  • Victor in The Thief Lord
  • Nish the ogre in Ella Enchanted
  • The mayor in Dinotopia (the 2002 TV mini-series)
  • Rookery the vampire hunter in The Little Vampire
  • Grand Vizier Ja'Far in Arabian Nights
  • Harry in Brassed Off
  • Lord Hastings in Richard III (the 1995 film version with the 1930s Setting Update)
  • Blackie in Rustlers' Rhapsody

• William Schallert, a slight and elfin-looking actor has been playing white collar characters since just after World War II. He can be either officious or kindly as the part requires.
  • Patty Lane's father Martin Lane on The Patty Duke Show, probably his signature role
  • Doctor to the title character in The Incredible Shrinking Man
  • Leander Pomfritt on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
  • Agriculture minister Nilz Baris on the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Trouble With Tribbles"
  • Supreme court justice John Paul Stevens in Recount
  • Bon Temps' Mayor Norris on True Blood
  • Max Devore in the telefilm adaptation of Bag of Bones

• Jeffrey Tambor has been in so many movies, cartoons, and TV shows that it's hard to pin down his most well known role. You might mistake him for Doctor Phil though if he happens to be sporting a mustache that day.
  • Jinx in Mr. Mom
  • Lou in City Slickers
  • Vance Crasswell in the 1991 Mel Brooks film Life Stinks
  • Hank Kingsley in The Larry Sanders Show
  • Walt Whalen Jr. in The Radioland Murders
  • Maury Garner in Heavyweights(a Cult Classic film that was co-written by a young Judd Apatow).
  • Art Lundstrom in Big Bully
  • Dr. Fish in the 1998 remake of Dr. Doolittle
  • Sully in Theres Something About Mary
  • Quince in Meet Joe Black
  • K. Edgar Singer in Muppets from Space
  • Dr. Melvin Potts in Girl, Interrupted
  • Mayor Augustus Maywho in the live action movie adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
  • George Bluth Sr.(and his twin brother) in Arrested Development.
  • Mr. Thomas in Eurotrip
  • Tom Manning in the Hellboy films.
  • King Neptune in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
  • Mr. Big in Word Girl
  • Himself in Entourage
  • Crazy Quilt in Batman: The Brave and the Bold
  • Sid Garner in The Hangover
  • Carl Murphy in Monsters vs. Aliens
  • Big-Nosed Thug in Tangled
  • Adam Shadowchild in Paul
  • Professor Cakes in China IL
  • "The office guy" at the start of the Mr. Poppers Penguins

• Stephen Bauer. Practically the go-to guy for playing either authority figures (on both sides of the law) or shady criminals. Has more than 140 film and television credits to his name. His roles include:
  • Manolo 'Manny' Ribera in Scarface (his Star-Making Role)
  • Detective Sigliano in Running Scared
  • Prosecutor Michael Santana in the final season of Wiseguy
  • Joey Pinero in Primal Fear
  • Carlos Ayala in Traffic
  • Don Eladio in the fourth season of Breaking Bad

• Iain Glen is a classically-trained British actor who has performed in dozens of plays, films and television shows, often as noble or high-ranking characters. His roles include:
  • Brendan in Gorillas in The Mist
  • Hamlet in the 1990 film adaptation of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
  • Edward Foster in The Young Americans
  • Newspaper publisher Stuart Morrison in the miniseries Glasgow Kiss
  • Manfred Powell in Tomb Raider
  • Dr. Isaacs in Resident Evil: Apocalypse and Resident Evil: Extinction
  • Richard Coeur de Lion in Kingdom of Heaven
  • Otto Frank in the Diary of Anne Frank television miniseries
  • Father Octavian in the Doctor Who two-parter "The Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone"
  • Vaughan Edwards in Spooks
  • Sir Richard Carlisle in Downton Abbey
  • Ser Jorah Mormont in Game of Thrones